STEUBENVILLE, OH—Father Michael Scanlan, TOR, the former president of Franciscan University of Steubenville from 1974 to 2000, who brought the University to international prominence with a commitment to dynamic orthodoxy, was laid to rest this week, following his death January 7, 2017, at age 85.

His religious order, the Third Order Regular of St. Francis, Province of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, arranged for a vigil service and Memorial Mass to be held at Franciscan University, his home for more than three decades, before final burial services at the TOR motherhouse in Loretto, Pennsylvania.

Franciscan University faculty, staff, and students—joined by hundreds of people in the community and scores more who drove or hurriedly booked flights to Steubenville—filled Finnegan Fieldhouse January 11 for the Memorial Mass and to pray one last time for the priest they knew simply as “Father Mike.”

During the entrance hymn, “All Creatures of Our God and King,” based on St. Francis of Assisi’s “Canticle of the Sun,” Father Scanlan’s casket was placed before the altar.

Father Richard Davis, TOR, minister provincial, then placed three objects on the casket: a San Damiano crucifix, which he said was indicative of Father Scanlan’s belief “in the power of the word of God and the redemptive love of the Cross;” the book of the Rule of Life of the Third Order Regular, which represented his faithful allegiance to the professed “rule in life” of the Third Order Regular; and a Franciscan cord, with the knots of poverty, chastity, and obedience, for Father Scanlan’s total giving of self to his religious order and the Church.

The Gospel was proclaimed by Deacon John Lozano, Father Scanlan’s cousin. The homilist, Father Dave Pivonka, TOR, ’89, director of Franciscan Pathways and other spiritual outreaches, knew Father Mike as a student, as a fellow friar, as his assistant during Father Scanlan’s final years as president, and from the many times they preached together at conferences and workshops.

“Father Michael was my brother,” said Father Pivonka. Early in his priesthood, he would ask his mentor, “Father, what am I supposed to preach about?” Only to receive the reply, “Preach Jesus.”

Rather than focus on Father Scanlan’s accomplishments as the founder of Catholic outreaches or as a leader in the movement to keep Catholic colleges Catholic, Father Pivonka shared how young Mike Scanlan, successful Harvard graduate and JAG attorney, became Father Michael Scanlan, Franciscan priest.

“Father Michael’s dreams at that time were greatness and power and wealth and influence, and by his own admission, Father Michael had a large ego,” said Father Pivonka.

But Scanlan had an early encounter with Jesus, “in which he heard the Lord say, ‘Michael, will you give me your entire life?’  When he submits and says ‘Yes’ to what Jesus was asking him to do,” his life begins to change, said Father Pivonka.

When an Irish priest suggested Scanlan check out the Franciscan order, “he finds in Francis of Assisi somebody who is willing to let go of everything. And it is only when we become small, when we let go, when we surrender, when we are stripped, that we find the glory of God,” said Father Pivonka.

Two Franciscan friars especially influenced Father Scanlan’s life. It was from Father Sam Tiesi, TOR, that Father Scanlan learned to “stay small.” And Father Augustine Donegan, TOR, told him, “Let the Lord change you by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

That advice proved to be life changing, said Father Pivonka. “It was through the baptism by the Holy Spirit that Father Michael began to understand what it was that Jesus wanted him to do. . . . If Michael would have done what Michael wanted, none of us would be here. But Michael looked to the [Franciscan] rule, looked to his brothers, looked to the Gospels, to be able to discover what it was Jesus was asking him.”

At the end of Mass, Bishop Jeffrey M. Monforton of the Diocese of Steubenville said, “Father Michael strengthened the resolve of the College of Steubenville and subsequently Franciscan University, in its quest to be faithful to the Catholic Church and in her ministry to evangelize to a society increasingly ambivalent to the presence of Christ.”

Led by catechetics professor Dr. Bob Rice, the music ministry included Nick Scanlan ’15, Father Scanlan’s great nephew; Sarah Sollom, daughter of Ralph Martin, president of Renewal Ministries and a good friend of Father Scanlan; Sister Carrie Ann McKeown, TOR, whose religious order was founded with direction from Father Scanlan; Alicia (Doman ’94) Hernon, and former student Dan Bozek.

The next day, January 12, a Mass of Christian Burial was held for Father Scanlan at Immaculate Conception Chapel at St. Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania.

In his homily, Father Davis shared the part of Father Michael’s life that was mostly unknown to the general public—his life as a Third Order Regular friar who embraced with enthusiasm communal prayer, meals, celebrations, and the hard realities and challenges of community life.

“As demanding as the work of University president would be, Father Michael took his religious life as his number one priority. He ate with us, he lived with us, he prayed with us.”

Father Davis believes Father Scanlan was “led by the Holy Spirit to say yes to an invitation to ‘come, follow me’” and forego a promising career as an attorney.

“On the night he came to Loretto, he was shown to his room with three or four other friars accompanying him, he went to the bed, and said ‘Ah, I’m finally home.’  And there never was a turning back in the entire life of Father Michael Scanlan’s commitment to this community,” said Father Davis.

“He has touched literally thousands based on the power of the Holy Spirit. He believed it, he lived it, and having lived with him almost 20 years at the friary . . . [I can attest that] he believed in the religious life. He lived the religious life.”

Following the recessional hymn, “The Prayer of St. Francis,” mourners walked to the nearby TOR community cemetery on the grounds of St. Francis University.

The gravesite service included readings from Sacred Scripture and prayers. “Grant that our brother Michael may sleep here in peace until you awaken him to glory, for you are the resurrection and the light, and then he will see you face to face,” said Father Davis.

Recognizing Father Scanlan’s service to his country in the United States Air Force as a JAG attorney, military honors, led by American Legion Post 238 of Cresson, Pennsylvania, included graveside prayers, a salute to the American flag, a 21-gun salute, and the formal sounding of “Taps.”

The graveside service concluded with Salve Regina.